Facial width-to-height ratio

Reference range

None.

We have not validated a population reference interval for this photographic method. Published anatomical measurements do not automatically validate mesh-based estimates.

How we calculate it

Width is the distance between the left and right cheekbone landmarks. Height is measured from the brow line down to the top of the upper lip. Both come from the same roll-corrected mesh, so the ratio is unitless and independent of how large the face sits in the frame.

What moves the number

Weight change, which alters soft tissue over the cheek, and camera distance, which stretches or compresses apparent width. A wide-angle selfie and a photograph taken from two metres away will not agree.

What it cannot tell you

The research that made this ratio famous links it to judgements about behaviour, not to attractiveness, and those findings are contested. It cannot tell you anything about a particular person’s temperament, and we do not present it as if it could.

References

• Carré JM, McCormick CM, Mondloch CJ. Facial Structure Is a Reliable Cue of Aggressive Behavior, 2009. Cited only for the brow-to-upper-lip measurement convention; it does not validate our mesh proxies or support conclusions about this customer’s behavior.